


Trinity

by scheherazade



Series: Dear Renji [2]
Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Alternate Universe, Friendship, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-15
Updated: 2013-12-16
Packaged: 2018-01-04 14:50:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1082303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scheherazade/pseuds/scheherazade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A triangle is the strongest shape. It might collapse due to material fatigue, but never geometric distortion.</p><p>Tennis, metaphors, and friendship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Year One - Renji

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place in the "Dear Renji" meta-verse, where: 1) Inui kept in touch with Yanagi after he moved to Kanagawa, and 2) Yukimura's "deathly illness" was greatly exaggerated, i.e. he had mono and missed a couple tennis tournaments. The rest is friendship and schmoop.

They met on a day when the last dregs of summer were fading into fall. 

Seiichi always insists that Gen'ichirou had been there as well, but Renji doesn't remember. What Renji remembers is visiting the school with his parents, and sneaking away when he heard a distant sound of tennis. He found the red clay courts and, by the chain link fence, a boy watching the Rikkai club members practicing.

Renji kept his distance. The other boy seemed to have no such reservations about personal space. He walked right up to Renji. 

"Hi! Are you a Rikkai student?"

He could have turned around and gone back to his parents, right then. He was far from home and Sadaharu and familiar green courts, and his preferred method of dealing with strangers was running away. He could have left.

Instead, he replied, "I'm going to be a first-year next spring."

"We'll be classmates! I'm Yukimura Seiichi. You?"

"Yanagi Renji."

And so they were.

 

* * *

 

His first memory of Gen'ichirou was as the frowning boy sitting next to him in class.

During English, Renji finished his reading 15 minutes early and spent the time furtively observing his neighbor. Sanada Gen'ichirou was quiet, wrote neatly, and seemed to have only one facial expression. While their classmates alternated between anxious, bored, and earnest, Sanada frowned his way through every lesson.

Renji wondered if the scowl was a way of bending the world to his will, or if the fact of failure was what caused its existence.

Sanada-kun was unhappy as well, Renji decided by the end of the day. It made him feel less alone.

 

* * *

 

"Yanagi-kun!"

Half the school had shown up to the tennis club intro meeting. Renji made his way through the crowd of first-years, toward that waving hand. He found Yukimura flanked by a familiar frown. 

"Sanada-kun," Renji greeted him. "You play tennis, too?"

Sanada nodded. Yukimura mock-punched him in the shoulder.

"He thinks he's too cool for tennis, but that's because he volleys like a girl."

Sanada's frown turned into a scowl.

"I heard the club captain won't let first-years play matches," Yukimura said to Renji. "Lame, huh? Want to go to the street courts with us after practice?"

Renji shook his head. "I think I have to go home."

"We're junior high students now! You don't have to listen to your parents."

Sanada gave Yukimura vaguely scandalized look.

Renji smiled, shaking his head again. "They'll be worried. I can ask and go with you tomorrow?"

Yukimura pouted. "Fine." 

"OKAY, SHRIMPS, GATHER UP!"

The vice captain's voice boomed across the courts. Renji nearly jumped out of his skin. 

Yukimura laughed at the both of them, because Sanada had flinched as well. 

 

* * *

 

Sadaharu was fascinated by the idea of clay courts. "Does it make your shoes squish?"

"It's dusty." Renji had the phone cord looped around his wrist. No matter how he moved his arm, it didn't straighten out completely. "My socks were all reddish when I came home."

"That's so cool. Does it play different from our courts?"

"I don't know. They don't let first-years play."

"Why not?"

"We're supposed to gain some experience first."

"No way. I bet you're better than most people there."

"Pride goes before a fall," Renji quoted.

"Lots of things can go before a fall," Sadaharu rejoined. "I'd rather trip over pride than a rock."

Speaking of which. 

"Yukimura-kun asked me to play tennis with him and Sanada-kun," Renji said. "I heard they're both really good."

"Do they play doubles?"

"I'm not sure."

"Do you think we'd be better than them?"

Renji considered it. "Can't say."

"You need to gather some data, kyouju."

" _You_ need to come over, hakase."

"So we can get data together?"

"So we can play tennis."

"Same thing."

Renji smiled. There was a reason Sadaharu was his best friend.

 

* * *

 

Yukimura looked confused when Renji asked.

"You and Sanada can play doubles against me if you want. But I get to use the singles court."

Renji opened his mouth to say, _That's not the point_ , and thought better of it. He offered to referee first. The three of them played singles. 12-point games, loser switching out. 

Yukimura refereed only once the entire afternoon. 

"He doesn't like sharing," Sanada said, afterwards.

It took Renji a few seconds to overcome the shock of Sanada actually talking to him. 

"And…what about you?"

Sanada shrugged.

Renji considered it a draw.

 

* * *

 

Lunchtime was easily Renji's least-favorite part of school. He ate alone at his desk while the gossipy girls giggled over their food and magazines in the back of the classroom. 

Sanada always disappeared the minute the bell rang. Renji sometimes spotted him and Yukimura sitting outside. 

Then one Thursday, Yukimura marched into 1-C and informed Renji, "You're having lunch with us" — and that was that.

There was a maple tree near the tennis courts, too far for most people to make the trek. Yukimura claimed it as theirs. When it rained, they met on the third-floor landing of the staircase behind the library. 

A teacher nearly tripped over them once. Renji thought that, for the first time in his life, he was going to have to explain detention to his parents. 

But Yukimura gave Tsujimoto-sensei a wide-eyed look, said they were only trying to escape the rain and have lunch together, because he was in a different class from Sanada-kun and Yanagi-kun, and it was so lonely at home with no one there, and friends are such miracles, aren't they, sensei?

Tsujimoto-sensei faltered. Frowned. Gave them a sharp reminder to sit by the _side_ of the staircase if they must — and let them be. 

Renji blinked. 

"You're amazing," he concluded.

Yukimura grinned. "I know, right?"

Sanada rolled his eyes.

 

* * *

 

They went to bed with thunder on the horizon and woke to a clear summer day. 

"Race you!" Sadaharu shouted, already halfway out the door.

Renji tugged on his shoes and sprinted after him. The tennis bag hung heavy across his shoulders, but his feet were light on asphalt and grass. It was summer vacation. Sadaharu's parents had agreed to let him stay the whole week.

They took the bus to the public courts. 

This early on a Sunday morning, the place was deserted but for them — and two figures at the court on the far end. Renji shielded his eyes and squinted. 

Sadaharu was already digging around in his tennis bag. "Did you bring the new can? I have a couple balls but they're pretty beat up." He looked up when there wasn't an immediate answer. "Renji?" 

"I think," Renji said slowly, "that's Yukimura-kun over there."

Sadaharu looked where he was pointing.

The breeze carried with it a faint _thock-thock_  of rallying. 

"Want to go see?" Sadaharu offered after a bit. Renji nodded.

It was indeed Yukimura — and Sanada. Renji approached the fence with Sadaharu behind him. Sanada spotted them first and raised a hand to wave. The ball whizzed past his ear. 

"Pay attention!" Yukimura yelled. He had his back to the fence. When Sanada pointed, he turned around. His frown melted into a grin when he saw Renji. "Hey! Didn't think you'd be up this early or I'd've called you, too."

"Good morning," Renji began, because his parents had taught him manners. "We just got here actually."

Yukimura pointed at Sadaharu. "Is that your friend?"

Renji could see Sanada's pinched expression; he also came from a very traditional home. Sadaharu didn't seem to mind, though. Renji nodded.

"Great," Yukimura said. "Come play king-of-the-court with us. You know the rules?"

Renji looked at Sadaharu. Sadaharu shrugged. 

"Sure."

 

* * *

 

"We should ask them to play doubles next time," Sadaharu said.

The bus trundled around a corner. Their shoulders bumped together, tennis bags secure between their feet.

Renji thought about Sanada. "We should."

 

* * *

 

In September, Yukimura made up his mind. 

"We have to be Regulars next year. They can't win Nationals without us, and I'm not staying at a club that can't win."

A maple leaf fluttered earthward, interrupted by Sanada's head. Renji waited for it to fall. Maybe there was too much static.

He picked it out of Sanada's hair. That got him a questioning look.

Renji twirled the leaf between his fingers. " _Acer palmatum_."

Sanada's lip twitched upward.

"Hey, are you two even listening to me?"

Sanada turned back to Yukimura. "Which Regular are you going to challenge?"

"I'm thinking Suzuki. His backhand is awful, and every time he comes to net you can tell he's thinking about that time Nishiki hit him in the face. You remember that? He just went up and _bam_ , like something McEnroe would do…"

Renji was content to let Sanada listen to Yukimura talk for the rest of lunch period. 

He put the leaf in the back of his math textbook.

 

* * *

 

"I don't get it."

"You do," Renji said patiently. "You just have to focus."

"It's boring, and I don't want to." Yukimura slumped forward on his desk, chemistry notes scattered everywhere. "This is the worst."

Renji looked to Sanada for help. 

Sanada poked Yukimura with a pencil. "Sit up."

"Nope."

"Your spine will grow crooked."

"Don't care."

"You won't be able to play tennis anymore."

Yukimura sat up. Renji turned away toward the window to hide his smile.

It was snowing outside. Renji watched their reflections. Sanada prodded, verbally and actually, until Yukimura picked up his book again. It was rather inspiring, in its own way.

"How come you only nag when it's me?" Yukimura complained later, as they were walking home. "You say about two words a day to Renji."

Sanada frowned. "He's not the one failing chemistry."

"Other people are also failing chemistry," Renji observed.

That earned him a disapproving glare. Renji looked back calmly. Sanada's frown wavered. His ears turned red.

Yukimura laughed at him. "Are you _blushing_?"

Sanada tugged on his cap. "You're my best friends."

Renji stumbled. Ice, maybe. Yukimura didn't seem to notice. He dashed a few steps ahead, scraped up a thin handful of snow to throw at Sanada. Half of it hit Renji instead.

"Hurry up, losers!"

Renji glanced at Sanada. Sanada sighed. 

They ran after Yukimura together.

 

* * *

 

Sanada handed him a slim envelope. _To Yanagi-kun,_ it read in neat calligraphy.

"Your writing has strong character," Renji said.

He could tell Sanada was pleased with the compliment, though it made him shrug awkwardly.

"Happy new year."

It was a start. 


	2. Year Two - Seiichi

"Do you miss Inui-kun?"

Renji lifted his shoulder a fraction of an inch. "We're still friends."

Anyone else might have thought he didn't care at all, but Seiichi knew most of Renji's tells by now. "So that's a yes."

"That's not what I said."

"Maybe not with words, but you totally did."

"So you're psychic now?"

"Nope. You're just obvious."

Renji looked up from his book. "And you're not?"

Seiichi stuck out his tongue reflexively. Then he actually thought about it. "Wait. What?"

"Nothing," Renji lied. Seiichi opened his mouth to protest, but Renji looked pointedly over his shoulder and said, "Good afternoon, Gen'ichirou."

Seiichi jumped. Sanada gave him a strange look as he rounded the library table, dropping his backpack across from Renji. "Good afternoon."

"Seiichi and I were talking about the ethics of lying. He's for it."

"I was not!"

"A man should be honest," Sanada said gravely. He actually looked _troubled_. "Is there something you wish to tell us, Yukimura?"

Renji hid a grin behind his book. Seiichi was going to kill him. With tennis.

"Let's just finish this lab report so we can go to practice," he grumbled. Very graciously, he handed his notes to Renji. "You do the writing."

"It's supposed to be a group project."

"It's called delegation. Sanada and I will do the graph."

Renji, the bastard, seemed amused by this. "If you say so."

Sanada looked between them, frowning. "The writing will take time. Perhaps I should help Renji—"

"It's fine." Renji was still looking at Seiichi. "I work better alone anyway."

Seiichi pointedly ignored whatever he was trying to telegraph. He indicated the seat next to his own. "Come sit over here, Sanada."

Sanada did so without complaint.

 

* * *

 

Marui Bunta was the most annoying person Seiichi had ever met. He cared more about showing off than winning, and he wasn't particularly good at either. It had been fine when Marui was just another wanna-be. But this year the team was short one doubles player. And Nishiki, the idiot captain, was actually impressed with Marui's stupid volleying.

"I'm not making him play doubles with you," Nishiki pointed out when Seiichi brought it up. "The only person who should be complaining is Motohiro, since you took his partner's place on the team."

And all right, Seiichi could admit that had been a tactical error. "We don't need him," he insisted. "Renji can play doubles."

"Yanagi is a counterpuncher just like Motohiro. That's never going to work. So unless you actually have something useful to tell me, Yukimura-kun, I suggest you go finish your practice match."

Seiichi demolished his practice partner in fifteen minutes flat. Over on the next court, Marui was finishing up his own set — against Sanada. Sanada looked good, but Marui's form was terrible. And he was already wheezing.

"Your concentration is off."

He whipped around. Renji stood there looking utterly serene. Seiichi glared at him. "Spying on people is rude."

"I didn't think you cared."

"I'm watching a match."

"And I was watching yours."

"And?" Seiichi prompted. 

"I think you were paying more attention to Gen'ichirou's match."

"Only because Marui keeps yelling about his own genius."

"He's a good doubles player," Renji said. "They both are."

Seiichi stared. "What?"

In the distance, Nishiki shouted for the team to gather up. Something about weight training. Seiichi grabbed Renji's arm so he couldn't escape. 

"What are you talking about?"

Renji shrugged. "You should ask Gen'ichirou to play doubles sometime."

He removed his arm from Seiichi's slackened grip and left it at that.

 

* * *

 

"You play doubles?"

Sanada blinked at the boy — and question — that suddenly appeared before him. "Good morning, Yukimura."

"Good morning," Seiichi responded on reflex. He perched on the corner of Sanada's desk. "No, seriously. _Doubles_?"

"It's tennis," Sanada said, as if that explained anything. "I've played with Renji."

"Against who?"

"His friend from Tokyo. Or people at the street court." Sanada frowned. "Is that a problem?"

Seiichi wanted to scream _yes!_ — but the only follow-up reason he could find was _you're supposed to play with me._ And that didn't make any sense. 

He gathered himself. "No. Just wondering. We didn't have to let Marui on the team then."

"Not my fault I'm a genius, Yukimura-kun," chirped a voice. Marui dropped into the seat next to them. "Hey, Sanada."

"Good morning," Sanada said politely. 

Seiichi gave his best haughty look. "We were having a conversation."

"You're going to be late for homeroom," Marui replied.

Seiichi looked at the clock and dammit, Marui was right. He stood up. "See you at lunch," he told Sanada, who nodded back. 

At the door, Seiichi glanced back. Marui was leaning over Sanada's desk, pointing to something in his notebook. If he tilted that chair any further, he'd tip over. 

Sanada smiled at something Marui said. 

Seiichi prayed hard for gravity.

 

* * *

 

" _He planted the dragon's teeth, and from them sprang a group of fierce warriors. Cadmus threw a rock at one of them. They warriors turned against one another and fought until only five were left standing._ "

Seiichi stared up at the branches of their maple tree. "That's a stupid story."

"It's your English homework," Renji pointed out.

Seiichi sat up. "They should have killed the guy who threw the rock."

"They didn't know who it was."

"It says who threw it."

Sanada sighed. "You translated this sentence wrong. Look."

Seiichi threw up his hands. He flopped back, using Sanada's legs as a pillow. "I don't care. It's a stupid story."

"Yukimura," came Sanada's disapproving voice. "Sit up."

"Nope."

"You need to do your homework."

"I've already done it."

"You need to do it _right_."

Seiichi ignored them both and closed his eyes. It was a warm Saturday afternoon. They should be playing tennis, not reading English stories. 

"I told you we should have stayed in the library," he heard Renji say.

Sanada sighed. "Yes. You were right."

"Don't tell him that," Seiichi grumbled. "He's already got a big head."

"Sit up and prove me wrong."

"Nope."

Sanada poked his shoulder. "We can go play tennis after you're done."

"We were only waiting for you," Renji added.

Seiichi cracked open one eye. "Really?"

"Really."

 

* * *

 

Renji was still standing on Seiichi's side of the court.

Seiichi threw a tennis ball at him. "What are you standing around for?"

"Want to play doubles?"

Sanada was waiting by the net, ready to keep score. Seiichi looked from him back to Renji. "There's three of us."

"We could find a fourth."

They could. There were even a few Rikkai students around. Walking past the other courts, Seiichi had recognized one of Renji's classmates, Yagyuu something. They could, but.

"We don't need any more doubles players." He pointed to the far side of the net. "Get your ass over there."

"Not everything's about tennis," Renji said cryptically. He walked away and took up his position just inside the baseline.

Seiichi threw all his weight behind his first serve, out of spite.

"15-love," said Sanada.

 

* * *

 

Seiichi went over his homework again before going to bed.

He found it hard to believe that something sprung from the earth could cause friend to turn on friend. Green, growing, flowering things were signs of life. 

" _Dragon's teeth,_ " he said to himself, the English words heavy and awkward in his mouth. 

 

* * *

 

They won regionals, and Marui sat on the bench as alternate. Sanada played doubles two with Motohiro. Nishiki followed Seiichi's advice and put Mori in singles two. Seiichi himself played singles three. Rikkai took every match in straight sets. 

"Good strategic thinking, Yukimura-kun," Nishiki said after the final.

Seiichi smiled. "Told you it would work."

From the corner of his eye, he saw Marui shoot him a sullen glare. Seiichi ignored it. Fake geniuses' angst was low on his list of priorities. 

On the bus, he sat with Sanada. Renji took the seat across the aisle.

"Great match," Renji said. "Both of you."

Seiichi bumped Sanada's shoulder, getting a faint smile in return. It felt better than match point. 

 

* * *

 

The national tournament was in Osaka. They took the train, after Nishiki convinced the club advisor that long bus rides could cause muscle injury. There was no reason for them to take the train back, Seiichi supposed, but Tsujimoto-sensei was a bit of a pushover, and Nishiki knew an advantage when he saw one. 

He preferred trains. You couldn't sit three people together on a bus.

Seiichi snagged the window seat, Renji beside him and Sanada by the aisle. It was a three-hour journey. Sanada had a book. Seiichi had his CD player. Renji was oddly restless, and kept getting up every few minutes until finally Sanada said,

"Would you prefer the aisle seat, Renji?"

"Yes. Thank you, Gen'ichirou."

They swapped places.

Seiichi snickered. "You two are so formal."

Renji ignored him, but Sanada looked a bit embarrassed. "There's nothing wrong with being polite."

"I know. I was just kidding—" the word felt awkward, though he'd known it for years, "—Gen'ichirou."

Seiichi put his headphones back on before Sanada could respond.

He stared out the window. He could see Renji's reflection looking back at him. Sanada's attention was on his book.

 

* * *

 

"I need help."

Renji looked up. "What with?"

Seiichi dropped his science textbook on Renji's desk and pulled up a chair. "Everything."

Renji put away his novel. "I don't think I'm qualified to teach everything."

"Tsujimoto-sensei is trying to kill me." Seiichi put his head down in his arms. "He said he'll kick me off the tennis team if I don't pull up my grades."

"Ah," Renji said. There was a pause. "Where should we start?"

Seiichi waved in the textbook's general direction. "Pick a page. Doesn't matter."

He heard pages rustling, a soft, crisp sound with every turn.

"How are you doing with geology?"

Seiichi made a face. "I'm not."

"You need to know plate tectonics for the next test."

"All I know is it's something about lava in the ocean and earthquakes."

"And continental drift."

"Which makes no sense," Seiichi grumbled. "Land is supposed to stay put."

"Everything moves." Renji sounded weirdly sad all of a sudden. "Atoms. Animals. Vines and mountains. The world is full of energy and change, but we can't always see it."

Seiichi lifted his head. "Are we still talking about geology?"

A pause.

"We could be," Renji said.

Seiichi sighed. He snagged the textbook and flipped it to a diagram of subducting plates. "Just explain this to me. And no more metaphors."

"Of course," Renji agreed. "We can review metaphors when you write your essay tomorrow."

 

* * *

 

"This is why I like tennis," he told Sanada on Saturday. "You either win or you don't. Nobody's sitting there judging you with a red pen."

"You like absolutes."

"I guess?"

Sanada shrugged. "It's a mark of strength."

Seiichi didn't know what to say to that. It'd sounded like a compliment. The clay courts stained their shoes red with dust, matching scuff for scuff, a constant reminder of the years.

He tossed the ball to Sanada. "You can serve first."


	3. Year Three - Gen'ichirou

His nephew was the first to bring it up. He didn't like being stuck babysitting, but it was his duty. Grandfather was getting too old to be running around after the brat all day. 

Not that Gen'ichirou was having much better luck stuffing Sasuke into a clean shirt.

"Behave," he commanded. "We have a guest coming."

Sasuke squirmed and got the sleeve tangled around his head. "Who's coming over?"

"Yukimura."

Gen'ichirou tugged the shirt the right way around. Sasuke's head popped free, though now his arms were caught.

"That girly queen?"

On the other hand, he could just leave Sasuke like this.

"That's disrespectful." He yanked the shirt into place, ignoring Sasuke's indignant yelp. "You are not to repeat that ever again."

Sasuke stuck out his tongue. "He looks like a girl. Do you tell people he's your girlfriend?"

He was too young to be having high blood pressure, Gen'ichirou reminded himself. "No, and no. He's my best friend. Go comb your hair."

Sasuke flattened his hair with his hands. "Mom says dad always asked her to come over and that's how they got married."

It took him a moment to realize how that fit into their conversation. "That's different."

"Why?"

"Because it is." Gen'ichirou herded his nephew into the bathroom. "Comb your hair properly!"

"Girls don't like bossy boyfriends!" Sasuke shouted through the door.

 

* * *

 

Yukimura loved the garden. Grandfather approved. Gen'ichirou didn't tell grandfather that this was the only time he'd ever seen Yukimura sit so still, heavy with inner peace.

"Third year," Yukimura said dreamily. "Finally top of the food chain."

"You've always been at the top."

"In tennis."

"In what counts."

Yukimura laughed. "Yeah, true."

He started to say something else but was interrupted by a cough. Gen'ichirou immediately reached for his scarf. Yukimura glared at him.

"I'm fine, Sanada."

"You've been ill."

"I had a cold."

"You had mono."

"Whatever." Yukimura looked away. "It's just fatigue. Doctor said I can practice when school starts again."

The silence felt awkward. 

"I apologize," said Gen'ichirou.

"Oh my god, would you just _stop._ " Yukimura's annoyance was taking on amusement now. "Renji is so bad for you. The two of you together make old men sound hip."

"Don't let grandfather hear that."

"Where's Renji anyway? I haven't seen him since last week."

"He's visiting his friend in Tokyo."

"How devoted of him," Yukimura mused. "Must be a pain going all that way to see someone."

"It's not that far."

"It's farther than here."

Gen'ichirou considered the swaying breeze around them. "I'd go see you," he said, "if you lived far away."

Yukimura looked at him. Gen'ichirou suddenly remembered Sasuke and felt a flurry of panic. Perhaps that had been the wrong thing to say.

Then Yukimura grinned and punched him in the arm. Not enough to hurt, but enough to remember. 

"You'd better."

 

* * *

 

Yukimura's fatigue lasted for nearly the whole spring. The doctor said it was normal. Renji offered the same opinion. Gen'ichirou wondered why he trusted his friend more than a medical professional.

He also wondered why Yukimura was being such a pain about team selection for the regional tournament.

"Can't you put Renji and Akaya in doubles two? They're getting pretty good."

"Not as good as Jackal and Marui."

"Ugh," said Yukimura, with feeling.

Gen'ichirou filled in the names carefully. "Why don't you like Marui?"

"Why do _you_ like him?" Yukimura shot back.

"He's a good doubles player. We need him."

Yukimura's only answer was another groan. Gen'ichirou took that as permission to fill out the rest of the team form as he saw fit. He put himself and Renji in doubles one.

 

* * *

 

They lost to Seigaku. Yukimura blamed himself for not being there. Gen'ichirou blamed himself for letting Akaya play singles two. 

Possibly they should blame Renji, who'd insisted on playing singles three. But the moment Gen'ichirou saw the bespectacled Seigaku boy who would be his opponent, he'd understood. 

There were more important things than tennis.

 

* * *

 

"I'm going to play in the final," Yukimura decided.

Gen'ichirou looked up from his homework. "We still have to get there first."

"You'll get us there." Yukimura waved his hand airily. "I trust you."

"I don't know if I trust myself that much."

"Then trust me." Yukimura sat up. His books were spread all over Gen'ichirou's bedroom floor, like some literary nest. Renji would despair were he here. "I'm going to be ready for that final, so there better be a final for me to play in."

Yukimura was all fire when he talked about tennis. Gen'ichirou felt torn between fascination and fear.

"Would you like some tea?" he asked eventually, in lieu of an actual response. 

"I'll come with you."

They made tea together, Yukimura rinsing the cups while Gen'ichirou measured spoonfuls of fragrant leaves. The kettle hummed. The windows held a blue evening in their panes.

Yukimura chattered on about school and tennis, and Gen'ichirou was content to listen.

 

* * *

 

Yukimura ran the team ragged in training to prepare for nationals.

"What's crawled up his ass?" Marui grumbled at some point. Gen'ichirou shushed him and got a glare for his trouble. "What, are you that far up his ass, too?"

Renji chose that most opportune moment to intervene. Gen'ichirou watched him herd the idiot-genius out of Yukimura's hearing range. 

The twisted feeling in his gut remained.

 

* * *

 

Tennis was like anything else, Gen'ichirou had long ago decided. No one wanted to lose. But the most important thing wasn't winning; it was making peace with the fight.

Yukimura didn't see it that way, but then, Yukimura didn't usually lose.

 

* * *

 

The first practice of the fall semester was a nightmare. 

He sensed something was wrong the moment he arrived with Renji. Yukimura was standing to the side, paying no attention to the first years' rally practice. The third-year regulars were loitering by court 2. Akaya was nowhere in sight.

Gen'ichirou hesitated between Yukimura and the others. Renji walked up to Niou. 

"What's going on?" he heard Renji ask. 

Niou shrugged. "Yukimura yelled at Akaya. You didn't see him in the locker room?"

"No."

"Must've run home."

"What happened?"

Gen'ichirou didn't wait to hear the rest of their conversation. He went to Yukimura. His entire frame was tense, hunched in on itself. Gen'ichirou reached for his shoulder on instinct.

Yukimura flinched. 

Gen'ichirou dropped his hand. "You okay?"

There was a long pause. Yukimura's lips were pressed into a thin line. He looked — not angry, but on the verge of tears. 

"You and Renji run practice today," Yukimura said finally. His voice didn't shake. "I'm not feeling well."

With that, he went. 

Gen'ichirou looked for Renji, and found the rest of the regulars watching him with wary eyes. 

 

* * *

 

"Marui told Akaya," Renji said. "I think he meant for it to spread. But instead of telling others, Akaya went to Seiichi first."

"Which had the same effect anyway."

"When Seiichi shouted at him, yes."

Gen'ichirou stared out at his back garden. The leaves swayed green with summer. Renji was still as a rock beside him. Gen'ichirou wondered how he did it, or if it was all pretense, too.

"I probably shouldn't have made them run laps," he said eventually.

"What's done is done."

They sat in silence, thinking. The space beside him felt empty.

"What do we do now?" Gen'ichirou asked.

Renji let out a soft breath. "I don't know."

 

* * *

 

No one bothered him. But he could tell, from the way eyes followed him in the hallways and in class.

Yukimura avoided him and didn't go to practice that week. Gen'ichirou ate lunch with Renji. 

He felt off-balance.

 

* * *

 

On Monday, he stopped Renji when the lunch bell rang.

They went to Yukimura's class. He was sitting at his seat, pointedly ignoring everyone and everything.

Gen'ichirou exchanged a glance with Renji. They approached together. 

"You're having lunch with us," Renji said. 

Gen'ichirou remembered Yukimura saying those same words to Renji, years ago. 

Now they lead Yukimura out to their favorite maple tree. The grass was warm, even in the shade. The leaves rustled, and all was quiet, just the three of them.

"Are you ever coming back to the tennis club?" Renji asked. 

Yukimura shrugged. "What's the point?"

"You're still captain."

"Akaya might as well take over. They can spread a rumor that he staged a coup." Yukimura made a slicing motion across his neck.

Gen'ichirou put down his lunch. "It's just a stupid rumor."

"Maybe to you."

"Seiichi, I understand how you feel," Renji tried. 

Yukimura glared. "You _understand_? What do you understand, huh? You're the tennis nerd, but they're all calling me a fag behind my back!"

"That's not fair to Renji," Gen'ichirou cut in.

"Tough." Yukimura stood up. "Leave me alone, okay? They're going to make up more stupid rumors if they see us together."

"What— Yukimura!"

Gen'ichirou scrambled to his feet. Yukimura was already halfway down the path. He had to run to catch up. 

"Yukimura, wait."

"Go away."

"You're my best friend. A stupid rumor doesn't change that."

Yukimura stopped. They looked at each other. 

"That's probably how it started," Yukimura said quietly.

He turned away. Gen'ichirou stood there and watched him go.

 

* * *

 

"Why doesn't your friend visit anymore?" Sasuke asked. 

Gen'ichirou plucked the remote from his hands. "No TV until after dinner."

Sasuke flopped over on the couch, books completely disregarded. "Did you have a fight?"

"No."

"Mom says no means yes when you say it like that."

"Your mother's wrong."

"That's what dad says."

Gen'ichirou looked up from his book. Sasuke was hanging nearly upside down off the couch. He dragged his nephew upright. Sasuke took advantage of the situation to hug his arm. 

"Don't be sad, oji. Mom and dad fight all the time."

Gen'ichirou looked down at his nephew's dark head. 

"I know."

 

* * *

 

September went in a haze of late-summer heat. Renji guided Akaya through the business of becoming captain. Gen'ichirou ran practice alone. Yagyuu and Niou prioritized studying over tennis, but Jackal stuck around to help him keep the first years in line.

Marui slunk up to him in homeroom one morning and mumbled an apology. Gen'ichirou accepted it with a nod.

Slowly, things began to realign themselves, and October arrived with rain.

 

* * *

 

"And to solve for x, you take b squared and add—" 

Renji cut off abruptly. Gen'ichirou looked up and found Renji staring past his shoulder. He turned his head.

"Anyone sitting here?"

Yukimura stood there, uncertainty and defiance in his eyes. Gen'ichirou motioned for him to sit.

The library was mostly deserted, this early in the morning. Outside the sky thundered. Inside it was quiet.

Yukimura put his algebra notebook on the table. "My mom thought the sun had risen in the west," he said, "when she caught me studying at home yesterday."

Gen'ichirou blinked.

Renji spoke first. "I think the earth just wobbled on its axis."

Yukimura pulled a face. "I wish. Maybe then Tsujimoto-sensei would have better things to worry about than my grades."

"He expects all of us to do better," Gen'ichirou said, "now that tennis season is over."

"Yeah, well." Yukimura fiddled with his pencil. "I don't study so well. Alone."

"You don't do anything well alone," Renji observed.

"Except for tennis."

"Not even tennis." Both of them turned to look at him. Gen'ichirou shrugged. "You always need an opponent."

Renji nodded. "Or a partner."

"Or both," said Yukimura. 

Renji was smiling, the faintest of signs. Yukimura kicked him under the table, a childish habit. Gen'ichirou frowned at him, and that drew a grin from the other boy.

None of them worked well alone, probably. But maybe that was the point. 

 

* * *

 

On Sunday, the rain stopped.

They met up at the public courts, where they used to play when they weren't yet allowed matches at the Rikkai tennis club. Their racquets were no longer too big for their bodies. But it still felt the same when Yukimura bounced a well-worn ball to test its condition.

Gen'ichirou faced him across the net without prompting. Renji hung back by the fence. They played king-of-the-court, and Renji beat Yukimura three times out of ten.

"You've had too much time to collect data on me," Yukimura said accusingly.

Renji, midway through taking a drink from his water bottle, spluttered. Gen'ichirou pounded his back, panicked, and Yukimura laughed at them both.

 

* * *

 

"A triangle is the strongest shape," Renji said. "It might collapse due to material fatigue, but never geometric distortion. In many cultures, it is considered sacred."

Yukimura rolled his eyes. "Do you have to have a metaphor for everything?"

"Just like you have tennis, I have words. It's my thing."

"And what about Sanada?"

They turned to him. Gen'ichirou shrugged. He could feel his ears turning red. 

"I have you two." 

 

* * *

 

He took the bus home with Yukimura. The seats stuck to his clothes and cooling sweat.

"Does it bother you?" Yukimura asked. 

"What?"

"What they said. About us."

Gen'ichirou watched the streets go by. Yukimura's shoulder was warm against his own.

"It doesn't."

"How come?"

"Because it's not true," he said. "But even if it was, it doesn't matter."

The bus rattled over a bridge. He knew Yukimura was staring at him. Gen'ichirou met his eyes.

"I've known you since I was four, Seiichi."

"And?"

"It's like with Renji and Inui." Gen'ichirou weighed each word. "If I were far away, I know you'd come visit me, too."

It sounded so simple, spoken aloud. But he supposed it would have to be enough.

A hesitant hand found his on the seat between them. 

"Yeah," said Seiichi. He breathed. "Okay."


End file.
